In the Moonlight
by UchihaHakura64
Summary: After the Yule Ball, Draco begins to think that Hermione is perfect. He seemes able to suppress his thoughts during the day, until a little incident occurs at night in the moonlight.
1. In the Moonlight

**I own nothing.**

In the Moonlight

Night and day have always been known as opposites. Day is when the sun shines, when innocent fun is had, when children feel safe from their nightmares. Night creates fear, mystery, and thoughts better not pondered about.

Draco didn't realize when it started, perhaps at the Yule Ball. The night Hermione glistened like a crystal as she danced with Viktor Krum. That night Pansy grew jealous, and Malfoy smirked as she stormed off, obviously mad at the muggle-born's surpassing beauty. Draco laughed, trying to think of the way his date would in return, try to make Granger jealous. It was then that he realized, astonished, that the confident, know-it-all, decent-looking (just decent, he thought to himself) Hermione Granger had nothing to be jealous about.

What could Pansy do? Study to surpass her in knowledge? That would never happen. Flirt with many boys? Hermione Granger, a Gryffindor, would not be jealous of Slytherin boys, especially not as long as she had Viktor Krum. And this particular night of the Yule Ball, Pansy was inferior in beauty too.

After such realization he had a notably harder time sleeping at night. He wondered that, if Hermione had nothing to be jealous of, was she not perfect? Every night he shook his head at this thought, until eventually he was stumbling over "Granger" almost uttering "Hermione".

Then the time came when night was no longer safe. He could not speak her name to his fellow Slytherins, for her name would always come out "Hermione" and never in the hate-filled tone he meant to use. He could not trust his thoughts, for if they wandered to her he would think things he was taught never to think about Mudbloods.

Finally, anytime Draco sat in the Slytherin common room, he spaced off, wondering if Hermione was really perfect. (He had submitted to calling her Hermione in his mind now, it was too troublesome not to.) Most of the time he'd then be asked (because he's so popular you know) what was on his mind. Once he had unconsciously said "Hermion...nothing!" before quickly disappearing to bed.

Being alone seemed the only way to keep all of his forbidden thoughts to himself. If no one talked to him, he wouldn't blurt anything out, and everything would stay a simple, dreadful, dirty little secret. Draco Malfoy was slowly coming to believe that Hermione Granger was perfect.

During the day he could keep his mouth shut well enough, so he was only truly lonely at night. He'd lay awake for hours, fidgeting and full of energy. Eventually he began to walk about the castle at night to calm his mind. After a few close calls with Filch and Mrs. Norris, he was an expert at avoiding detection by means of secret passages, (he _had_ stumbled upon a _few._) Draco found himself enjoying the castle more and more each night as he made many discoveries. There were many things that he didn't know about Hogwarts.

But mysterious things happen at night.

* * *

Hermione rushed from the library toward the Gryffindor common room, fear flowing through her veins. "How could I be so stupid not to look up at the time," she muttered to herself, furious she'd been reading for so long. She began running faster with each step. She turned a corner and collided with something hard.

Draco recovered quicker than Hermione after the crash. He blinked a few times before he registered who was in front of him. For just a moment he saw her, unconscious on the floor, moonlight from a window covering her face. Draco gasped.

"Decent looking" wouldn't be sufficient to describe her appearance; "Beautiful" or "Perfect" might have done justice. For in the pale blue light, the curves in her face were smooth as glass and her long eyelashes showed why she would never need makeup.

But it took only a moment for her eyes to flutter open. Hermione remained dazed for a moment before coming to.

"Are you alright, Hermione?" Draco said as he stood up, brushing dirt from his robes and extending a hand.

Hermione reached the hand offered to her and got up. "Fine. Thank y…" Hermione stopped. She now stood face-to-face with the infamous Draco Malfoy.

There was a moment of utter shock. "Wh-what did you say?" She asked, confused.

Draco's cheeks tinted red before he let go of her hand. "Nothing!" He took off in the opposite direction, wanting to put as much distance from her as possible.

Oh, yes. Mysterious things happened in the moonlight. Draco Malfoy was forced to think things he could never reveal he felt during the day.

Hermione Granger was perfect.

* * *

**I'm updating this story chapter by chapter. **


	2. Thoughts of Blushing

**I own nothing.**

Thoughts of Blushing

For the first time in her life, Hermione Granger did poorly in lessons of the day

For the first time in her life, Hermione Granger did poorly in lessons of the day. It was because her mind was replaying her encounter last night with Draco.

He had asked if she okay…he had called her _Hermione_…he had offered her his hand…

Most importantly, he had _blushed_…and it wasn't a joke. She knew he was sincere, because he _ran_. A sign of fear. Fear of what, is what she wanted to know.

The blush, though, stuck out in her mind. It was nighttime, and still she had seen the glow of reddish-pink. However, it had been close to full moon, and the light was bright...

Hermione sighed. There was only one way to regain her concentration, and that was to simply talk to Draco...She cringed at the last word. Since when had she…?

'_Draco is just a name. He called me Hermione so it's not strange that I thought Draco instead of Malfoy,_' Hermione thought as she walked quickly walked along the corridor. '_I'm just curious why he…blushed,_' Hermione had taken a while to convince herself of these thoughts, but even now she was dreading another encounter with Draco Malfoy. But it had been almost a month now, and she had not heard one word from him, nor had she seen him for more than a second after Potions.

'_There is only one way to corner him. He won't stay long enough after lessons for me to talk to him, I can't walk over to the Slytherin table, and I won't go anywhere near their common room. So I've got to catch him…at night._'

Only one time did Hermione wonder how intense Draco's blush must have been in order for her to see it in the semi-darkness. This was because the most puzzling of things happened; Hermione felt herself blushing very madly too.

* * *

**I barely changed anything in this chapter. Anyway, read and review, flames welcome.**


	3. Philosophies

**I own nothing.**

Philosophies

She felt very stupid that night, sneaking into the boy's dormitory and grabbing the Marauder's Map and Invisibility Cloak from Harry Potter's bedside. She'd refused to tell her closest friends about her thoughts of Draco Malfoy, for even they might reject her. But as she walked down the corridor that night under the cloak, she knew that she'd sunk low enough and must end it.

And she knew she would end it when she spotted _his_ dot coming down the stairs towards her very location.

She threw off the cloak and hid the Marauder's Map while Draco came towards her. She had him cornered. Though her heart was hammering so hard against her ribs she thought for sure Draco could hear it.

He noticed her halfway down the steps and froze, eyes wide. "What are you…?"

"What's going on?" Hermione asked in the fiercest voice she could muster. "Tell me!"

Suddenly he was smug. "Don't know what you mean, Hermione," He was teasing her. _Teasing_ her. As if he was in any position to!

She was a bit surprised but didn't back down. "Why are you avoiding me?"

He smirk didn't disappear. "You see, Slytherins usually don't associate with Gryffindors if you know what I mean, we find them quite despicable…"

"Despicable?" She repeated, astounded. "Is that why you helped me, called me my name—"

"I was raised with manners, you know," he cut across her.

"—blushed, and ran away?" Hermione continued as if he said nothing.

This struck a nerve. Draco was suddenly as stiff and tall as a plank of wood. Hermione saw his cheeks turn a vivid red blush.

"I didn't fancy a talk with the likes of you, so I headed off—"

"Quit the act," she interrupted, "and explain." She gave him a long, stern look. "Why." She demanded, not questioning anymore.

"If someone wants to make you jealous, but they can't find a way how, does that make you perfect?" He blurted out quickly.

This was the thing she least expected him to say. "If someone wants to…sorry, what?"

"Parkinson wanted to make you jealous of her. At the Yule ball. But you're more cordial than her, so she couldn't make you jealous of her personality, you're smarter than she'll ever be, so she couldn't make you jealous by showing off her smarts, and—" he stopped.

Hermione had been confused, yet still understanding what he was saying until then. "And?" She urged him on.

The next sentence was much more like one word than a complete thought. "Anyouwerebetterlookinthanher"

"What?"

Draco sighed, a new, more dramatic blush already creeping up onto his cheeks. "And you were more beautiful that her," thought he quickly added, "that night, I mean."

Hermione stood, mesmerized by what he was saying. This was what had been on his mind?

He continued. "So essentially, if you were better than her at everything, were…uh…are you…uh…perfect?"

Hermione stared for what felt like a long time before answering. She, perfect? That's why Draco had been avoiding her, because he believed this…philosophy? Hermione answered his question slowly, never favoring a subject such as philosophy that was based on feelings and principals of uncertainty.

"Beauty is all in opinion, and saying someone is perfect just because they are better than another person…" Hermione stopped. A quote popped into her head. _Love isn't finding a perfect person. It's seeing an imperfect person perfectly. _

No. Impossible. Yet gazing at his ever growing blush, Hermione guessed it was so. Love. Draco Malfoy was in love. With her? It was a theory that would perhaps explain his actions…Draco found her perfect because he loved her? It was completely and absolutely ludicrous! And yet, she had to make sure.

So she asked the only thing that came to her mind. "You really think I'm perfect?"

Draco blushed to the point of having burning up but nodded feverishly.

At this point, Hermione Granger looked up into his eyes, and Draco saw on her cheeks a blush so intense it looked as if she had a very serious fever.

Yes, this was a very big assumption on Hermione's part, but a strange thing called a heart told her that she was right about his feelings. And also as she stood on tiptoe and gave him a kiss on the cheek, that she was right about her feelings, too.

And he stood, baffled, while she took the opportunity to grab the cloak and map, and run away. Her hair was swishing gently behind her but her heart screamed loudly because she had wanted to know why he had run away from her.

Well…

She knew.

And she was doing the exact same thing.

* * *

**Love isn't finding a perfect person. It's seeing an imperfect person perfectly. –Sam Keen**

* * *


	4. Phone Tag

**I own nothing.**

Phone Tag

He knew her thoughts. He had thought those exact same thoughts when he was avoiding her. But now she, of all people, was avoiding him! After what she did, why, the nerve of that girl! Yet Draco, thinking about her gift to him, would not have stopped her if she chose to give him such a gift again.

Yes, he was thinking about her kiss. It happened so quickly; he was still trying to process it when he saw her fervent blush. He'd almost missed it. Yes, Hermione was an exceptionally smart girl; she'd caught on to his feelings and returned them.

That thought, that she, the perfect Hermione Granger, had returned his, Draco Malfoy's feelings, was unbelievable. In fact, the thought rendered him giddy as a young schoolgirl.

Still, he was happy, she seemed happy, so why would she avoid him? '_Now I know how she felt after I first called her Hermione._'

But he was tired of playing phone tag. Both of their feelings were going back and forth. He loved her and then avoided her. She loved him, and she avoided him! It was time to settle it. He had to find her and talk, no, really speak to her.

It wasn't easy cornering her in the daytime, far away from the moonlight that would complement her features so perfectly. But no, he felt that since all of their previous encounters had been at night, he should continue the tradition.

Hermione was good at hiding from him, but he waited patiently for her to make just one mistake.

And then he pounced.

* * *

Draco looked around the hall and found her; he smirked at his accomplishment and was two feel behind her before she heard his footsteps and turned to see him.

Hermione gasped and tried to run in fear. Draco was quicker, though and grabbed her wrist. Her face turned to him, and he silently cursed a nearby window for shining the full moon's light on her.

"Don't run away," Draco said in the most demanding tone he could manage. "Please," he added softly.

He had an entire conversation planned in his head for weeks. Yet practicing in the mirror hadn't prepared him for her beauty. Really, nothing could. In a feeble effort to gain enough of her trust to date her, Draco had attempted poetry. If his father ever knew that he had stooped to comparing her to...

And that was the problem. He couldn't compare her to anything that would do her justice.

Now, as he gazed over her features, his entire pre-planned conversation flew straight though his brain and out his left ear.

"Draco...?" She muttered softly, transfixed in his gaze too. He suddenly realized that he was still gripping her wrist, and quite tightly too. He quickly let go. His hand, needing to hold on to some part of her, slowly inched up her body until it gently folded around a lock of her hair. Hermione gave up.

"Why me? Why?" She asked rather loudly and sat on the ground. Her face showed she was troubled as tears gently flowed down her face.

Draco immediately bent down and held her while she spoke. "No other boy has ever thought of me that way, not Viktor, not Ron, not Harry, no one. And yet you, who have been tormenting me for as long as I've been at Hogwarts, tells me, I'm..." Hermione stopped, overwhelmed.

"Perfect?" Draco finished gently.

"Yes!" She wailed. "You're a Slytherin; I'm a Gryffindor! You're a pureblood, and I'm a Mu-mu-mud-"

Draco put a finger to her lips. "No, you're not." Her said sternly.

"You're the one who told me I was!" Hermione said furiously, tears still rolling down her cheeks.

"I was wrong." He admitted, and he was surprised how easily it came off of his lips. "I was jealous too. But I don't need to be. I can be _with_ you." Draco had never heard his voice like this before. She had some sort of effect on him. Her close presence was making him a better person because she was rubbing off on him, if that was possible...

Hermione looked into his face. Sincerity. He truly _wanted_ to be with her... Looking into his gaze shut her brain off. It was only when her brain was off that she heard her heart, screaming in fact, _YOU LOVE HIM TOO!_ She didn't know how or when it happened, but in every fairy tale her parents had ever read to her when she was a child, the maiden listens to her heart and finds that she loves the prince. However, that was just it. They were fairy tales.

"Draco..." It felt so strange to say his name, so _bad, _but somehow good. "I think...I might...possibly...love you." She saw his face go into an expression of pure joy that she had never seen before. "But what about Harry and Ron? And your father? What will they think..." Hermione trailed off.

Draco smirked. "You've gone and let them brainwash you." Draco paused, "We can do whatever we want."

Hermione was horrified. "Absolutely not! There are rules for a reason, for your safety and well-being and to keep-" Hermione stopped when she heard Draco laughing. "What's so funny?"

"You need to have more fun." Draco said simply. "I wish I could've taken you to the Yule Ball, now..."

"Everyone would have seen us!"

"Eventually, they will. You learn to care less about those sorts of things...besides, it would've been fun."

Hermione smiled and nodded in agreement. Perhaps Draco could make her a better person, or at least he could maybe help her to have fun...

Then Hermione had an idea. She whispered in Draco's ear, and he too smiled.

"Brilliant..."

* * *

The two had met in a spacious empty classroom. He had come with a boom box and she the map and the cloak. She checked that Filch and Mrs. Norris were nowhere near by, and he set up the music. They had both wore their outfits from the Yule Ball.

"Care to dance, love?" Draco bowed and extended his hand.

"Of course."

They danced the night away, occasionally checking the map. Miraculously it was a perfect night, and each time they danced through the moonlight shining through a window, the two shared a perfect kiss.

Needless to say, Draco was leading, and on more than one occasion, he performed a wrong step to steer into the moonlight.

Of course, she didn't mind.

**Fin.**

* * *

****

I wrote this story when I was on a Harry Potter kick and I finally got around to finishing it. I have an excuse! I actually wrote the beginning one day in Study Hall, but then I lost the paper, and I didn't want to write the last chapter without the paper. Even after I found the paper, it was months before I finally finished it. Thank you's go out to all of the wonderful people who review on every chapter and who have alerted. Many thanks.

I was thinking of writing a sequal. Tell me what you guys think. :)


End file.
